1985 Maccabiah Games

The 1985 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 37 nations to compete in 28 sports.

History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.^[1] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Opening ceremonies

Twenty years after his first appearance in the Maccabiah, Olympic Champion Mark Spitz returned to Israel to carry the Opening Ceremony’s Torch into Ramat Gan Stadium. He was accompanied by Shirli Shapiro, Anok Spitzer, and Shlomit Romano, children of three of the Israelis slain at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Notable performances

Seven men's and 14 women's records were broken in swimming, with the U.S. team winning all but three of the gold medals in this category. Twelve new men's records and 7 new women's records were broken in track and field.

The U.S. won 109 gold medals, 90 silver medals, and 74 bronze medals, slightly fewer than half of the medals won by all other countries combined.

Canadian Mark Berger, who had won a silver medal at the Olympics the year prior, won a gold medal in judo. American Ken Flax won the gold medal in the hammer throw.^[5][1]</ref> American Donna Orender played for, was the oldest player on, and was captain of the Team USA women's basketball team.^[6]^[7]^[8]